Overview
- Early June 2026 reporting by WIRED and independent researchers shows Meta quietly added code called “NameTag” to the Meta AI companion app used with Ray‑Ban and Oakley smart glasses.
- Analysts found three AI models on users’ phones that detect faces, crop images, and encode faces into numeric “faceprints,” and testers reproduced a working recognition notification in lab tests.
- Meta says the feature has not been turned on for consumers and no final decision has been made and the company denies it is building a central face database.
- The design would keep faceprints on users’ devices but allow updates from Meta’s servers, which leaves unclear who would be enrolled, how profiles are created, and how nonuser consent would be handled.
- Privacy groups, civil‑liberties lawyers and some lawmakers are urging Meta to abandon or strictly limit the plan because it revives biometric practices that produced major legal settlements and could normalize covert identification in public.